Copyright

Digital Collections: Reproduction, Use, and Copyright Guidelines

The Lafayette College Libraries provide digitized materials from their collections as part of their mission to support teaching and research. These guidelines apply to the reproduction of these digital materials by users generally, unless otherwise stated on specific web pages.

Educational Use

Users may freely reproduce (print or download) from digital collections, provided the intended purpose is for use in teaching, research, or private study, and provided that proper attribution to the Lafayette College Libraries as the source of the materials is made (see below).

Publication or Commercial Use

Users must contact us for permission to reproduce materials from digital collections for electronic or print publication, exhibition, broadcast, product licensing or other commercial use. High resolution reproduction and use fees may apply.

Citing Materials Used

Any item reproduced from the Lafayette College Libraries’ digital collections must be properly cited, whether for publication, educational, or commercial use. All citations should include the name of the library, the title of the item, and the web address (URL). Examples of how to cite web pages are available in the Libraries’ guide to Citing Web Resources. Special Collections & College Archives provides on its website a guide to citing archival materials with examples of citing digitized resources.

Copyright Considerations

Although much of the material in the Lafayette digital collections is in the public domain and not subject to copyright restrictions, other items may still be under copyright by Lafayette College or other parties, including authors, publishers, or vendors. The absence of copyright information for individual items does not indicate that the work is necessarily in the public domain. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy any claims of copyright before making use of reproductions beyond the conditions of “fair use,” as described by the United States Copyright Law (see below). Users of Lafayette College’s Digital Collections agree to hold Lafayette College, its officers, and its employees harmless against all claims and actions arising out of the use of reproductions provided by the Lafayette College Libraries. Lafayette College Libraries are committed to providing full credit to copyright holders with works in our digital collections, but we are not always aware of who they are. We are also eager to update our metadata or to make other corrections as necessary. We encourage any copyright holders whose work is not properly credited or anyone with further information about items in our digital collections to contact us.

United States Copyright Law

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve a violation of copyright law.